1. Technical Field
This invention concerns body art studios and more particularly a process for controlling inventory and preventing employee theft in a body art studio.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, body art studios that apply temporary artwork to human bodies have become increasingly popular. The temporary artwork or “tattoos” as they are commonly known can be applied to an individual's skin by various means. For example, the use of adhesive transfers and airbrush paints are well known for this purpose. Adhesive transfers are applied by simply positioning a decal on an individual's skin. Airbrush paints are generally applied using stencils that can be positioned on an individual's skin while the airbrush work is performed.
Many customers prefer tattoos that are applied using airbrush techniques as compared to adhesive transfers because the overall look and experience of the application can be more similar to the mystique associated with the application of a permanent tattoo. Accordingly, airbrush tattoo studios are becoming increasingly popular in a wide variety of venues including theme parks, shopping centers, and vacation destinations.
Many of airbrush tattoo studios are set up as small kiosks, stands or booths that are situated in high traffic areas. These studios are often operated by part time or hourly employees. Their job responsibilities include assisting customers with the selection of tattoo designs and ink colors, operating the airbrush equipment to apply the temporary tattoos, and recording the sale using a conventional cash register. However, one problem encountered by management personnel charged with responsibility for the efficient operation of such tattoo studios relates to the problem of employee theft. For example, it can be difficult for management to track the number of temporary tattoos applied by an employee on any given day. This creates the potential for employee theft. In particular, an employee may apply one or more tattoos over the course of the day, charge customers for such tattoos, and then pocket the receipts for the sale without recording the transaction in the cash register. This is a serious problem that can adversely impact the overall profits associated with the operation of the tattoo studio. Further, even if the employees operating the studio are behaving in an honest way, they cannot always be relied upon to accurately record the particular tattoo design that is applied for each customer. This can create an inventory control problem, the nature of which is described in more detail below.
For the purpose of applying an airbrush tattoo, one or more different types of color dye can be sprayed through the stencil openings to form a temporary tattoo on the skin surface. Conventional stencils can be re-usable and are simply held in position next to a person's skin while the airbrush work is performed. More recently, single use adhesive stencils have become more popular. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,269 discloses a tattoo stencil mechanism with an adhesive backing for temporary attachment to a person's skin while a stencil is being applied.
Although there are clear advantages to the use of single use adhesive stencils, they also create an inventory control problem. A typical airbrush tattoo studio can have a wide variety of available tattoo designs. For example, more than one hundred different designs may be available for customers to choose from. In order to ensure that customers are not disappointed, a substantial inventory of single use adhesive stencils must be maintained at the studio. Enough stencils for each tattoo design must be on hand at all times to ensure that supplies are not exhausted. Lead times for ordering more stencil inventory can require that a tattoo studio operator be provided with advance notice of when supplies are running low of a particular design. Tracking and maintaining this inventory of stencils at all times can be problematic under normal circumstances and can become particularly difficult in those instances where employee theft is occurring.